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In addition to the zip files linked below, mahlzeit has added a feature to his program that creates an online streaming player. Just click on the link to hear all the recital pieces without having to download the zip files:

For the convenience of forum members, mahlzeit's program has normalized the files for consistent volume and standardized the ID3 tags in a collection of zip files. This makes it easier to create personal CDs and playlists.

Let me express my greatest thanks to five very special people: mr_super-hunky for coming up with the idea of our online recitals, which have proven to be more successful than any of us ever dreamed; Bob Muir for working out the technical details of pulling together the recital and doing so tirelessly for the first six, count 'em, six, recitals; LaValse for hosting the zip files and recital software on his server; Copper for trouble-shooting help and the Order of the Red Dot; and last but not least, mahlzeit for writing the absolutely fantastic web-based recital program that we are using. THANK YOU MAHLZEIT!!!

I started this piece soon after the last recital. Things were off to a pretty quick start but then stalled out between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Picked up again in January because I didn't have much of a choice!

This is easily the "busiest" piece that I've attempted up to this point. I get a great deal of satisfaction watching my hands fly around the various parts on the video and that makes me feel great. The one thing I've noticed about this piece on places like youtube is that it seems that perfectly clean takes seem somehow rare and alas my take isn't perfect but it's fine.

I never really had a proper lunch today and instead opted for a few small snacks instead.

One of my goals for these online recitals was to submit all the tunes that I got up to speed for my previous live recitals. With this recital I will have done that, so from next recital I hope to be able to start submitting pieces I've been working on for this years mid-year recital.

I donâ€™t think I would have ever discovered this piece on my own, but luckily was introduced to it by another. I had it playing on repeat in the background while doing some computer stuff, and subsequently fell in love with it and became determined to learn it.

My current ability is nowhere near that required to play this piece proficiently (as the listener will no doubt find out ), so my wish is certainly not to desecrate this amazing piece. But like the individual that introduced me to this piece, I too hope to introduce it to a few that might find it as incredible as I did. Though, I would highly recommend listening to a proper recording of this to get the â€śwhole storyâ€ť, if you know what I mean.

To me, this piece is absolutely brilliant. It tells such a fascinating story with only the piano. Iâ€™m sure every listenerâ€™s story will be much different than mine, but the story in my head while I listen follows this plot :

This piece begins very sad and filled with tension. The tension relaxes, and by 2:15 the mood changes to a more positive feeling, but this is short lived as the theme repeats in different keys giving me the impression that everything has descended into utter chaos.

At 3:39 the mood is lifted again, but it only feels better when compared to the hopelessness of the preceding section. Itâ€™s the beginning section repeated, so the sadness and tension are still present - and very familiar.

Later, I hear determination to solve the very complex problem causing the sadness and tension, and I hear agony while wrangling with the solution.

The last section of this piece (5:23) I canâ€™t explain because the meaning I find in it is always changing. Is it execution of the plan to solve the problem, or is it inner reflection doubting success? The mood changes dramatically at 5:49 (from minor to major, I think?). Was the problem solved successfully or was there some sort of epiphany and acceptance that there will always be this sadness and tension? I donâ€™t know yet, and thatâ€™s one of the things that keep drawing me back to this piece.

The head is taken from Tim Richard's book (Improvising Blues Piano), and I learned the first solo by copying Richard's playing on the CD, using magic softward called Transcribe. I then composed a second solo, which I play here right after the first.

This has also been an experiment for me in learning and memorizing music - without looking at the sheet! So there are a few stumbles here where I just forget what I'm doing. But overall I hope it's enjoyable, and any comments/critique (good, bad or otherwise) will be very welcome!

This is based on a melody I wrote many years ago. I've played around with it ever since. It actually had a final, more complicated variation. When I initially recorded it I had a chance to listen and realized how badly I played I so ended up with this "less complicated" version.

Dave Frank played Jarrettâ€™s version of Danny Boy at the end of his videocast and I was immediately drawn to it. The chord structure seemed so unusual, but fit the piece so well. As Iâ€™ve said before some of Jarrettâ€™s ballad covers are â€śreasonablyâ€ť accessible. Danny Boy has a manageable pace to it. The difficulty is in the big chords and extended passages with the chord changes and keeping the melody distinct in the right hand. Also I found it hard to maintain the dynamics I was looking for consistently. As with all Jarrettâ€™s music it remains a work in progress.

Individual sheet music published by Alfred Publishing Co. and available from (among others) sheetmusicplus.com.

Instrument used:

Yamaha CVP-301 Digital Piano

Recording method:

Digital to PC

Technical feedback wanted:

Yes

Additional info:

Many will recognize "Ashokan Farewell" as the main theme of the excellent PBS documentary series "The Civil War" by Ken Burns. However, this gorgeous work was not composed by Jay Ungar for that purpose. Instead it was written some 6 years earlier as a parting, or farewell, waltz for those attending the Ashokan Fiddle and Dance Camps that Jay and his wife Molly Mason run in upstate New York. The original recorded piece, as used with such inspired brilliance by Burns, has Ungar on "fiddle" and Mason on guitar (and can be seen/heard on YouTube with scenes from the documentary).

If any piece of music can be appropriately described as "hauntingly beautiful" it is this inspired and stirring conception of Ungar's. And as a tribute to Jay I open this version with a solo violin statement of the theme of the first section of the work (using the violin "voice" on my DP), which then transitions into my performance of this very fine piano arrangement.

The piece consists of two 16-measure sections each with it's own distinctive (and yet interrelated) theme. This piano arrangement by the prolific and creative Dan Coates first takes us through the two sections in a lovely but uncomplicated style, and then repeats them in a slightly more complex arrangement. I didn't change the music at all, but some of the dynamics and tempo changes are mine.

It was a real pleasure to work on this wonderful piece of music and it's an absolute joy to play. I hope you enjoy this version. It is played here from memory.

With this piece I did differently than before. I got the left hand chords first from a song I liked a lot and built a new melody around it. I also added a change from minor to major to make it sound a little optimistic at the end. I hope you guys like it.

Every left hand chord change is incremental. One or two notes may only change a semitone. This constant shift from black keys to white keys to black keys makes it difficult to maintain an even sound. It is beautiful when you do, and not so much, when you don't.

Originally, I played this pretty much as written, but along the way the left hand play has become more rubato.

The ending for me, is one of heartbeat. It slows, a brief pause, a couple of weary beats more and then ends. It is difficult to remove your hand from that last E octave.

This poor little melody has certainly, and undeservedly, been dragged through the mud of history. It started out life as a patriotic anthem to Franz der Kaiser (which one I have no idea). Haydn heard 'God save the Kinq/Queen' when he was in England and thought it was so stirring he decided to do the same for the Holy Roman Empire - what was left of it. Then he seems to have turned it into a hymn, which certainly works. Then it become the slow movement of the Op 62 C major string quartet. I guess that was so popular Haydn arranged it for piano.

It's not too hard to dissociate this melody from Deutschland uber alles (Bismark's brainchild) from this melody, especially since the setting is so refined. I am sure its original audience - hearing the 4 part choral harmony setting at the beginning - would have anticipated a deeply felt, spiritual and introspective piece - which this is. I consider it the equal of the Mozart quintets or the late Beethoven string quartets.

I did not really learn this piece so this is me just sight reading. It does not flow like it should but I don't have anything else ready right now that is not destined for another e-cital so here it is - warts and all.

Here is an original composition based off of melodies I use to practice. Someday I hope to be able to perform all of the melodies in my head the way I actually hear them but my abilities can hinder that somewhat. No worries though as long as I'm still seeing progress, it's all good.

My goal is to someday have people wanting to play *my* tunes. That would be cool.

Piano Literature, Vol 4: for the Early Advanced GradesEd: James BastienGeneral Words and Music Co.

Instrument used:

Yamaha Arius Digital Piano, DP-160

Recording method:

Audacity

Technical feedback wanted:

Yes

Additional info:

nice piece, wanted to do the whole piece originally but: 1. at the speed I can play it, would be 15 minutes, 2. I need work on 4 measures of the 3rd mvt that go much slower than I can play the rest of it (the right hand doing a melodic minor scale while the left hand simultaneously does minor arpeggio)

The Schubert Impromtus were what first attracted me to the piano, and as this one is the easiest of them, it's the first one that I learnt to play.I've been playing it on and off for about 15 years I suppose.I've left out some of the repeats because it repeats itself a lot anyway and it can get a bit boring.

I'm been playing mostly on my Kawai US-6X (link) upright, but it's not yet tuned so I'm still recording using my Midi setup. It'll be tuned in 2 weeks! I'll record my piece for the next recital on my acoustic.

Since it is improvised, it's a little bit unplanned. I start slow then something told me to speed up. Well, I was inconsistent. And with the Red Dot, you know how difficult it is, especially when I have to go with the flow with this. I only gave it one recording try today, and it is what it is, warts and all Stuff like this is better played with some rhythm section. Enjoy. In case you're wondering why it doesn't sound like Stella by Starlight, it's because I don't play the melody till the very end.

This is my third offering from Federico Mompou, a spanish impressionist composer who died in 1987; he has become my favorite composer and I strive to one day be considered the Monica M. of Mompou ;-). First time recording with H4n; lots of fussing; generally satisfied. Hope You enjoy it. Cheeseburger and poutine. Cheers.

Just me playing Eyes On Me from the Final Fantasy VIII Piano Collections. I know there are at least a couple of Final Fantasy fans on here! This is not a perfect performance or recording (what is?) but it was the best that I could do for now. Hope you all enjoy, thanks for listening.

In the immortal words of Mr. Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

If people don't already know it, I love op. 15. Probably my favourite set of pieces from any composer. If anyone is looking at no. 7 I really suggest diving into some of the other pieces. There's a wealth of beauty in this short compositions.

One take, no stops. A bit of a kludge and out of form to not play the whole set. Maybe some day my repertoire will include the whole set, but for now I'm happy with the four or five that are in decent shape and the three others in okay shape and the rest in various states of giving me the heebie jeebies.

Lunch: I had a boiled egg, sliced up on toast with Cheese Whiz. Mmmmm....